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Alabama Mayor Kills Self After Right-Wing Blog Outs His Cross-Dressing
(www.thedailybeast.com)
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this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
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He's conservative and even had a meeting with Trump. That's the worst of it I think, he was ok with persecuting trans people till he was outed.
To be fair, being trans is not the same as being a crossdresser.
It's basically the same as how Drag Queens aren't trans. They aren't fully conforming to the idea of being a 'woman', just the fashion and expression of it. Many prominent drag figures use she/her pronouns while in drag but immediately switch back to he/him when out of drag.
I've known a lot of people who really get into cross dressing but would never consider themselves trans.
I never really got into a serious conversation about it, but I always took it like when you get into a video game. It's just a lot of fun pretend to be them for awhile while knowing that in reality it's fiction.
'Course, then there are the folks for whom crossdressing is entirely different from being trans until suddenly it's not. (I'm thinking of crossdressing comedian Eddie Izzard -- who is now Suzy Izzard -- as I write this.)
The main thing is that all possibilities are possible, and it's really more about letting folks do their thing instead of trying to categorize.
Here are the Google definitions
Transgender - denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth.
Transvestite - a person who dresses in clothes primarily associated with the other sex (typically used of a man).
Crossdressing and/or drag is you like to be outwardly a woman/other gender. Trans is you ARE a woman. Full stop. Your meat suit just happens to not agree with it, thus the term gender dysphoria.
Note: I do not speak for a trans people. Nothing is black and white. This is just how I understand it best and figured it got the point across.
FYI, I am looking to learn and not state anything as fact here. I am just going to explain my current understanding and if it is incorrect, please correct me.
I think gender dysphoria just describes any feelings of distress and anxiety caused by suppressing the feelings of actual gender identity. The disconnect between mind and body may not always be traumatic.
So, if a trans woman has fully embraced being a woman in all aspects of life with no second thoughts, gender dysphoria may not be an issue.
However, if a trans woman feels socially pressured to maintain the lifestyle of a man, that could be a source of stress, anxiety and initial confusion.
There are probably millions of nuanced scenerios that do, or, do not result in gender dysphoria. However, it has been my experience that most people who are anti-trans use gender dysphoria as a generalized blanket term. (Obviously, that doesn't mean that anyone who used the term is anti-trans, but just covering that base regardless.)
Maybe this will help?
Crossdressing and drag are related to gender expression. Cis and trans are terms relating to a person's gender identity and may or may not align with gender expression.
That illustration is sweet
By no means am I an expert, especially on the intricacies of being trans and I don't want to cis-splain their experiences, but I do know that cross dressing has an overlap of necessity with them, but it's a ven-diagram/intersection rather than a circle.
People who are trans typically explain it as having always felt like they've always been in the wrong gendered-body. Wearing clothes that correspond to the gender they feel they are
(also, keep in mind MRI's have shown brain activity that more closely matches the gender they feel they are than the gender they were born with, as well) is way for them to try and reconcile the way they feel with the way they were born. It's usually an early stage in socially transitioning, whether they later choose to chemically/medically transition or not (and keep in mind, this is not always the end goal for people ... simply being acknowledged as the way they see themselves is enough for some people and they shouldn't be afraid to be in public because of that!).
People who cross dress on the other hand may be doing it because they're trans and feeling out the early stages OR ... just because. It could be the way a textile feels, it could be sexual, it could be non-sexual, it could be because they just like it, it could be because ... you see where I'm going with this? There are as many reasons that people cross dress as there t-shirt designs (I may be exaggerating a bit with that one, but you get my meaning, I think).
I know NOFX is problematic, but I feel like "I’m a Transvest‐Lite" explains it decently (for one particular person anyways!):
Also, the beginning of the song is about the shame felt early on about it and is generally about getting the courage to not give a flying fuck about what people think.
Hopefully I did a decent enough explanation without trampling on anyones lived experiences. The simple truth is that both groups of people have completely individualized experiences and it's a different journey for every single person.
Did you even read the article? It's specifically says that he was supportive of trans people.
I feel pity for this person, they deserved better.
That said. You cannot be supportive of LGBT people, and vote for the Republican party. Republicans are quite openly hostile to LGBT people, both in rhetoric and in policy. You can't say you are supportive of a group while voting to strip them of their legal recognitions and protections.
I agree with your comment, and I don’t think you’re saying otherwise. But definitely important to note that a lot of LGBT+ folks start off on the wrong side because of how they were raised, religion, etc. and the internal trans/homophobia that causes.
That said, there are also though a sizeable number of LGBT+ “one of the good ones” who think their support of republicans will keep them from being targeted by the laws they want to introduce (it won’t. This case itself is proof of that.)
I think that’s the important lesson to learn here for anyone voting republican and being a part of the LGBT community. The people you are voting for will not let you be just because you’re voting for them.
The trump meeting was because his town was badly hit in a natural disaster, not necessarily something that he would have sought kut
Reading other articles it seems like no, he was generally very positive and encouraging to others online. The impression I get (from 10 minutes of reading, not saying this conclusively) is that he was not overtly hostile whatsoever to trans people.
There are enormous social pressures in small conservative towns, and the man was 63. I can imagine life leading someone otherwise pro-trans into being a republican preacher in that environment. An awful tragedy
This. People are complicated, even when it is inconvenient.
Except for being a member of the anti LGBTQ party.
Yeah, but so is Caitlyn Jenner...
How anybody takes someone like that seriously is beyond me
You've got me. I don't understand why any trans person would be a Republican, but I guess money trumps all when you're rich.
Because they (wrongly) believe that being “one of the good ones” will save them from being targeted by republicans and their proposed legislation like Project 2025
That doesn’t mean people who have previously voted red are in the wrong (lots of internalized homophobia can lead to opposite beliefs). But once you realize your identity and continue to vote against yours and other people’s human rights, you’re absolutely in the wrong.
I would imagine that becoming mayor in certain parts of the country is much easier if you’re a member of the dominant party in the region.
Or existing in society at all. Sometimes in those parts of the country the first question upon meeting someone is "what church do you go to".
He didn't have to become mayor.
You can disagree with your party on one issue. There are tons of Democrats who are opposed to increased gun control, for example.
But it's not just "an issue". We are talking about a demographic and their legal recognition. No I'm sorry but we cannot agree to disagree on something so fundamental as equal treatment of people.
It's not comparable gun control.
I'm talking about whether people are physically capable of breaking with their party on a single issue. They obviously are.
Gallup poll
Disagreeing on policy is one thing; disagreeing on human rights is another. You cannot be a Republican and have respect for queer rights at the same time. It has to be a 100% deal-breaker.
How likely are those Democrats to get bullied to the point of suicide if their "secret" of being against increased gun control was to come out? Or to preemptively commit suicide in anticipation of the bullying they're going to receive?
This is not the same thing. Democrats are, generally speaking, flexible about a lot of their positions. It's how they wind up with problem members like Manchin and Sinema. The Republican party is very different.
Good luck trying to get the terminally online to understand the nuances and complexities of the human condition
It's a feature, not a bug.
He was a Baptist minister too...
I don't think many of them preach acceptance of LGBT
He was a Republican so yes he voted repeatedly to hurt LGBTQ people AS LONG AS IT WASNT HIM
If you read the article, it said, about halfway through, that he never spoke up on LGBTQ issues despite being a Republican.
It says he hasn't posted or supported anything publicly so he wasn't a hypocrite, he belonged to the wrong party though, I do feel bad for his family because he doesn't seem to be a right wing asshole